Trapped in a Nightmare
by Boneless Wingnut
Summary: Ben has a nightmare which causes him to fear for Gwen's every move.


Trapped in a Nightmare

Ben came to the scene of a car crash. He feared viewing the scene, but he realized a victim of the accident was his cousin, Gwen. If only he could have been there to save her in time.

"Gwen!" he whispered. He approached the violent crash. He witnessed his cousin's bloody body. She was disfigured and missing her limbs! "Gwen, no!" he gasped. He fell to his knees and sobbed. "Why did this have to happen to you?"

Ben woke up in bed. He gasped. He looked around. He recalled Gwen's horrific accident from his dream. It was much more of a nightmare.

He got out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom until he stepped inside and closed the door. He turned on the water and waited for it to fill the sink. He reached down and splashed some water on his face. He could not sleep the entire evening after that.

The next morning, Ben agreed to meet Gwen and Kevin at Mr. Smoothy's.

Gwen observed Ben's tired visage. She viewed the bags beneath his eyes and slow gait. Kevin disregarded it. "Ben, did you not sleep enough last night? You look unwell."

"No. I had a hard time sleeping. I had a nightmare," Ben admitted. He frowned while Kevin chuckled. "It's not funny. It was something very traumatic."

"The best thing about dreams is they're not real, Ben," Kevin said. "So you don't have to be traumatized by something that wasn't real."

Ben wished he could believe Kevin. But what experienced was more like a vision. "It felt very real."

"When I was 6 years old, I had a nightmare that my dog tried to eat my face off," Kevin said. "I spent the entire day shunning him until my mother inquired why I was so frightened of my former best friend in the whole world. I told her about the nightmare and she reminded me that it wasn't real and never would be. I knew it was true and went right back to loving my dog again. It was silly to have acted the way I did to my dog just because of a nightmare."

"But I didn't have a nightmare about my dog trying to murder me," Ben admitted. "I had a nightmare about someone dying in a horrific accident."

"Who?" Gwen asked.

"NO ONE!" Ben shouted. He cleared his throat after Gwen and Kevin expressed startled looks. "I mean, no one important. Just a person in a random accident. But I couldn't save them in time and I'm a hero. It made me feel awful."

"You can't be everywhere at once, Ben," Gwen said. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "And that's not your fault."

"I guess you're right," Ben said.

Gwen threw away her garbage and began to depart.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ben asked. He ran to her.

"Out with some friends. We're going shopping. Then to a movie," Gwen stated.

"YOU SHOULDN'T!" Ben shrieked.

"Why?" Gwen demanded. "Are you my father? Are you trying to tell me who I can and can't go out with, or what activities I can engage in, Ben?"

"Well, no," Ben said sheepishly.

"Then step off, Mr. Authority," Kevin said. "What is with you? Gwen's a big girl. She doesn't need someone holding her hand all day long." Kevin pointed to Ben's hand, which was holding Gwen's rather tightly.

"Oops," Ben muttered. He didn't realize he was currently grabbing at his cousin's hand.

"Stop being a weirdo, Ben. It's getting creepy," Gwen told him. She pushed his hand off hers. "You've never been concerned for my whereabouts before." She departed with Kevin. "Kevin will drop me off. You can walk. You obviously need fresh air to clear up your brain!"

Ben observed the car departing. Every car he witnessed made him nervous.

"I have to follow them," he said.

He transformed into Jetray and followed the car. He followed the car until it parked and Gwen stepped out. She stepped into her house after kissing Kevin. Kevin drove away. Nothing happened as Gwen prepared inside the house. Ben as Jetray waited on the roof. He observed no signs of trouble.

"Maybe Kevin is right. Maybe I'm overreacting. It was just a random nightmare," Ben muttered.

He observed Gwen's friend's pulling up. She stepped out of the house again. She got into the back seat of the car until she and her friends laughed and turned on the radio. The car drove away. Ben's fears returned.

"No way! I have to follow them!" Ben declared. He flew into the air until he followed the car on its path.

Ben followed the car until it reached the mall. Gwen and her friends made it safely. They went into the mall.

Ben transformed back into his human self and sighed. "I'm going crazy," he said. "I've been following them this whole time and not a single thing happened." He decided to return home and see what his mother had planned to prepared for dinner.

Ben received a call on his phone. He removed it from his pocket. "Hello?"

Ben's fear became reality as the policeman on the other end informed him of his parents death in a fatal car accident. He fell to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably. His nightmare had come true after all, just not in the way it had first presented itself.

The End!


End file.
